The Goblin's Nightwatch
by Celnes Billa
Summary: A goblin night-watchmen finds his role uneventful, but trouble soon comes. (Oneshot). Rated T for violence.


THE GOBLIN'S NIGHTWATCH

by

Celnes Billa

Place: Brethon Island

Region: Gaelical

Year: 779-Thridda Age

Day: 23rd December

Sat atop a tree branch with his yellow eyes blazing in the dark and his long red hair, flowing slightly in the wind, sat a goblin who was named Eglum. He was a young warrior of the Feothlac tribe, having passed his rite of passage ritual and been given his warrior mark 3 seasons ago and as with most young warriors, he held it with the utmost pride.

It was his turn to watch over the tribe tonight and though he accepted the duty proudly and with the uttermost dedication, he found it to be dull. Eglum was a goblin who found it difficult to sit still for long periods, and to make matters worse, he had not had good sleep the night before. Constantly, he found himself struggling to keep his eyes open, with the occasional knock to the side of the head being the only thing stopping him from dozing off.

Finding the boredom unbearable now, Eglum finally decided to partake in one of his most favoured pastimes, drawing. He had enjoyed drawing since he was a suckling, and would often be found carving various shapes and abstract figures on the earth floor of his family's hut. One thing he would always attempt to draw, but found exceedingly difficult, was a dragon. He'd been fascinated by the stories of them, told by one of the tribe's elders and had always longed to see one. However, the closet he would ever get to seeing one, would be the elder's descriptions, which he would often try to draw, but they always resulted in a mass of scribbles with a very vague shape.

Though he wasn't extremely confident, Eglum thought that he'd give it another try now. Using his strong, sharp claws, he began to carve into the trunk of the tree, with a very clear carefulness he had learned since he was a suckling. Delicately he, started with the tail first, then the body and limbs and then the neck and head. Then, after drawing the facial features, he started on the wings. He drew them as two lines, that curved upwards in the middle a then downwards at the tip.

Inspecting his work, Eglum was surprised. He had done a better job than when he was younger. The thing actually looked like a Dragon clearly, and without any vagueness. He rubbed his hand over it with pride, having finally accomplished something he had wanted to do ever since he was a youngster and to make things better, his pride and the ensuing excitement had woken him up much more than he was before.

Which was a good thing too, as his large and sensitive ears picked up a twig snapping.

Instantly, he snatched for his blade and with his eyes which were nowhere near limited by the darkness, began to scan the forest floor. Goblins had excellent senses, be it scent or hearing, and they were taught since they were born on how to use them effectively.

Scanning carefully and with a hunter's grace, Eglum searched and searched. Then, he finally saw them.

Two short, scaly and fish-like humanoids were crawling on all fours towards his tribe's northern gate. And it appeared, that the gate guardians had already noticed the bastards.

They both howled, and Eglum quickly joined them. The amphibian humanoids, quickly turned in the opposite direction and began running but Eglum rapidly climbed down the tree and was on their tail. Alongside him, were the gate guardians and the other tree guards that were out tonight.

The amphibians ran at a much slower speed than the more lithe goblins, and it did not take long for them to catch up. Eglum tackled into the back of the larger one, quickly followed by another guard. They both knocked it to the ground, and it began screech and lash out with its limbs, trying desperately to throw them off. Using their claws, the goblins held a strong grip, and they both began to slash at the fish-like humanoid.

Eglum was trying to get the amphibian's throat, but its constant thrashing made the task difficult. Thinking up a plan, he arched up and dug his blade deep into it's shoulder and the arm went completely limp a second after. His comrade seemed to have seen his attack and promptly did the same, causing the humanoid's other arm to cease functioning as well.

With both limbs disabled, the creature's struggle were far less violent and the blood loss appeared to be taking its toll now as well. Using the sudden and increasing lethargy, Eglum brought his blade to it's throat and with a quick slash, it opened to a chasm spewing forth crimson blood.

With one last screech that quickly turned into a death rattle, the fish-thing rapidly ceased movement and just a minute later, went completely limp. And it seemed as though the other guards, had managed to kill the other one as well.

Standing up and giving his blade a quick wipe with his fingers, Eglum felt his pride swell again. He had just once again, proven his worth as a warrior.

…

The fish humanoids' carcasses had been dragged back to the tribe for the chieftain and the elders to see. The elder's instantly recognised what the things were, and demanded a meeting for all the tribe's members.

From what Eglum had heard, the fish-humanoids belonged to a race of sea-dwellers that would travel inland to capture other humanoids for slavery or to sacrifice them to their dark god, which made the goblin particularly satisfied at the mauling he had given one of them.

Alarmingly their numbers had been growing at the island's coasts for some time now, and they had been caught trying to infiltrate other tribe's as well, goblin and none-goblin. There had also been reports of them pulling large-scale raids against tribes that inhabited the coastlines.

The news was worrying, and the elder's sensed that a large scale-conflict was rapidly appearing on the horizon. Messengers were sent out to the other goblin tribes in the area to warn them of the fish humanoids and preparations were being made in case of another raid.

…

Standing atop the tree branch and all of his senses on high alert, Eglum watched out over the forest. As many were now, he was anxious. He and many others of his tribe and the other tribes, had not been met with a full-on war for a long time now and in his case, never before. His only experience being some small skirmishes with rival tribes or the Pixie clans that inhabited the trees.

But first and foremost, he was a warrior at the end of the day and things such as wars, were a big part of that title. As anxious as he was, the goblin also felt some form of excitement for his upcoming battles and he would face them with dignity.

He crouched down on the branch, his weapon and his spirit always at the ready.

The End

* * *

_Author's Note_: This is my first fanfic, so constructive criticism is welcomed and encouraged. It is a practice one really, and I am going to be writing another oneshot about a Hobgoblin next. Both of them will tie into a longer story.

Thanks for reading.


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